iRobot® Roomba® j7+ (7550) Self-Emptying Robot Vacuum Cleaner - Smart Mapping

[This review was collected as part of a promotion.] I am a big fan of all things irobot. Before getting the j7 (which I named Rosie), I had the Roomba 891 and the mop (both which I have also loved). The j7 is a whole new ballgame. This little robot is a powerhouse. It has a long run time, maps the rooms to learn where the obstacles are, goes easily from my rugs and carpets to my hardwoods, has crazy suction power and then best of all- empties itself! I have a small dog in the house and was even surprised when it learned where I laid the puppy pad in our laundry room and now doesn't go near it (my past model would have just sucked that puppy pad right up, resulting in an error message). The J7 (Rosie) is quiet except for when it empties itself out. It startled me the first time it did so. It's so quiet that you forget it's running but when it does back on the dock to empty out, it sounds like a jet is on the runway in your house! lol This isn't enough for me not to still love my robot but I had thought I could run it at night but now see that I can't because of the loudness when it empties. The home base has little bags inside similar to old fashion vacuum cleaner bags that fill up and you just throw the bag/trash away. It came with 2 bags and I have already ordered more for when they get full. The j7 set up easily in my app along with my other roomba's. I used the app to send it back to the home base very easily. The j7 has a much longer run time than my previous roomba and another great feature is that when the j7 gets low on battery, it takes itself back to the home base. I have a lot of furniture and stairs in my home and the j7 has navigated all of this with ease. The funny thing is that I dont know exactly how much it's sucking up because I dont actually see the trash now. In my older model, I had to clean the bin out so I saw exactly how much was getting cleaned out (which is oddly very satisfying) but with the j7, since it empties out into the bag (the bag is not see through), you know it is sucking up lint, dirt ect but you don't get the "oh wow" factor of seeing exactly how many dust bunnies were under the bed. I would give the j7 a 4.5 starts out of 5 - only taking off al little because of the loudness of the empty out process. I really don't know how I did it before I had the Roomba and I have told my family and friends they don't know what they are missing without one! Worth every penny!

I've been an owner many years of a 690 Roomba and the J7+ is a quantum leap. It's fun to watch as you see the learning process and how it avoids things like my dogs, power cords and other items in its path. The roller brush system stays very clean and its much more efficient than the old brush system. I find it easy to clean and maintain. No more light towers like the old units. It maps your home and allows you to draw room boundaries, name your rooms and choose what rooms you are going to clean. I have a beagle/dachshund that sheds big time and again the improvement in technology is wonderful. No more dog hair! The self empty feature is wonderful and it's interesting that when the dirt container in the J7 fills, it scamper back quietly to its base and empties itself. Then amazingly it scampers right back to the spot it was cleaning and resumes finishing the cleaning. Same thing happens if the battery goes low. It scampers back to its dock and you get a message from the app that it is recharging with an estimate as to how long it will be before it resumes cleaning. Because it knows how much cleaning is left, you don't have to wait for a full charge too. I love that after it completes the map of your home shows the obstacles if any, that it encountered. Additionally you get pictures of obstacles and you can let the J7 know if those were temporary obstacles, or whether you want it to avoid that obstacle in the future. It's funny to see a picture of my dog laying down in its path. I notice that now if it gets in the path of my dog it will stop before hitting the dog, and turn another direction. It's quiet too. Much quieter than my old 690. My dogs pretty much ignore it as it moves along the floor. Also noticeable is that it will turn off the vacuum motor when it is traveling to specific rooms or when it is returning to its base. Fit and finish is good and yes it does not run over wires or cords or doggie droppings!